A Walk Through the Woods
by artmusicjoy
Summary: Reverse Falls! Pacifica goes for a walk and Dipper comes to keep her safe. Ever since the party at Pines Manor, things have been different between them. Fluff. Dipifica.


**I own nothing!**

Dipper wasn't sure why he was here exactly. Walking through the woods was a less than desirable way of wasting the afternoon, but the Northwest girl insisted on collecting things from the forest for some crafts project. "You'd go into the woods after a lumberjack ghost nearly killed you and your brother?!"

"Well, he only turned us into wood."

"That's not the point! If I hadn't opened the gates, you'd still be a tree stump!"

"Which is why it should be perfectly safe to go out today. And I thanked you for that already, oh kind and gracious Master of Gate Opening," Pacifica said sarcastically, bowing with a flourish.

"This isn't a joke, Northwest."

"Well, if you care so much, why don't you come with me? It could be fun!"

"Well I-" he stopped. "You'd enjoy my company?"

"Well, yeah. You're not so bad once you get past the ominous, commanding psychic thing," she said with a smile on her face of all things.

"Fine, then I'll come along. But don't think it's because I care!"

"Whoa man, I was only kidding. Now onward my psychic protector," she said with a smirk.

The two currently resided in a limbo of uncertainty, where they stood with each other, their families, how to interact, and whether their relationship could be considered romantic and, if so, how it would work out between them. After Pacifica and Gideon saved the manor from an ancient curse, the telepathy twins and the Gleeful-Northwest's had come to a sort of truce. _But is there something more?_ Dipper thought. That night, they had danced under the stars, having gone outside to avoid the rabble inside. They bonded in a way he never before experience. They had leaned into each other before Mabel had interrupted them (and though she won't admit it, he is almost certain she waited to jump in and embarrass them). Pacifica was friendlier with him now, which was a step in the right direction, but would it last?

Pacifica was going on about how she was supposed to make friends other than Gideon this summer and, hopefully, a boyfriend. Dipper seemed more focused on the book levitating in front of him as he walked, absentmindedly turning pages with barely any thought. "Dipper, are you even listening?"

He looked up from the novel. "Of course, you were just explaining, once again, how dreamy some boy was," he made a mental note to keep watch for this mermaid man.

"I just figured if you wanted to watch over me, you'd actually be watching what was happening instead of reading whatever that book is," she said, picking some flowers from their place in the ground.

"Look, I'm here to make sure nothing goes wrong while you enjoy this retched place. You and your brother can be assets to my sister and I in our excursions of the supernatural."

"Ok there Mr. Business."

"The point is this town is weird and I don't want anything happening to you."

"Everything will be fine," she said, reaching up to grab some fresh pine needles.

"What is this crafts project, anyhow?"

"Don't know yet. I'm just grabbing stuff, waiting for any inspiration to come." She continued to wander around, collecting anything that looked cool or potentially useful, ooing and aaing once and a while. "Maybe I could use this in a collage, or a diorama, or-whoa!" With the huge pile of things she'd found, Pacifica almost tripped on a broken branch.

She never felt the ground, instead she was safe in the pull of Dipper's telekinetic grasp. "You OK?" he said, setting her back on her feet.

"Yeah, thanks," she said starting to re-gather her things.

"Here," using his amulet, he picked up everything, letting the pile gather in the air, rather than in her arms. "Don't want you tripping again."

"Awesome! This'll be way easier now!"

They continued along the forest path; he'd turn pages in his book, she'd give him more things to carry. Quickly she figured out that by simply throwing her stuff at him, he'd catch it, without blinking; then she'd take off to grab some other weirdly shaped rock or brightly colored leaf. _At least she's enjoying herself_ , he thought. He almost admitted to himself that he was actually having fun being with Pacifica, but stopped himself before that thought could spread.

After several hours of walking and talking, (though Pacifica did _most_ of the talking, Dipper did chime in once or twice), the pair returned to the Shack. They watched the sun set as Pacifica threw stones and Dipper made them shatter to dust in mid-air. As the sky grew dark, Dipper got ready to leave.

Pacifica stopped him at the door, "Wait, Dipper," he turned around, "About the party... We, well..." _Oh no._

"We stopped a ghost and danced," he said, trying to play this off as no big deal.

"Well yeah, but, I know you saw me lean in and now you just show up 'to protect me' then you barely pay attention to me-"

"I caught you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but that's not what I'm saying! What gives? Do you like me or not?"

Silence.

"I just want to know before I try at another chance of romance," she said, sadly. "When we danced, I felt something, and I hoped you felt it too. But, I don't know-"

"I do."

Her face lit up, red with slight-embarrassment, and eyes wide in slight-shock.

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to this town. I've never met someone I could be with for an extended period of time, besides my sister of course, until you came into town. I just spent hours going through dirt, mud, and who knows what other mess in the woods because I _do_ care about you. I wanted to protect you and be with you, and-" Her arms were around him to quickly for him to stop her, not that he wanted her to. "I had fun today, with you."

"So did I."

"Good."


End file.
